ABSTRACT
Most European holidays have special foods associated with them. Leiden's Three October is no exception. However, since Three October celebrates the relief from starvation, it is not surprising that the special foods used to mark the celebration are symbolically linked to the siege and the first food eaten after the siege. Every Leidenaar has seen the monumental 430 x 574 cm (±14 x 18 ft) painting in which the mayor offers his body to relieve the hunger of the citizens who are demanding that he surrender. The painting was given to the city by King William I in 1818 and hangs in the Lakenhal, the Municipal Museum. In the same museum, every school child has seen the small three-legged iron pot that contained the first food brought into the city after the siege, i.e. hutspot.
